Bowen takes detention centre report aboard

Federal Immigration Minister Chris Bowen says the government wants to see fewer people in immigration detention and believes their time there should be as short as possible.

Mr Bowen received the 379-page final report of a committee set up to inquire into immigration detention shortly before it was publicly released on Friday afternoon.

He said the government had worked hard to adopt measures for a more sustainable detention network.

"We want to see fewer people in detention, and we believe they should remain there for as little time as possible," he said in a statement.

"The government is considering the report and will provide a full response in due course."

The joint select committee's key recommendation is that asylum seekers be held in detention for no longer than 90 days.

Mr Bowen said there were currently around 3600 people in detention, a reduction of more than 2500 since March 2011 when the disturbances at Christmas Island happened.

"The number of people at Christmas Island is at its lowest since 2008, with a total of only 171 detainees currently accommodated on the island, compared to 2500 in March 2011," he said.

Mr Bowen said the government had expanded the use of community detention and introduced bridging visas for boat arrivals to allow people to reside in the community while their asylum claims were assessed.

"More than 3400 people have been placed in community detention since October 2010, while almost 1100 boat arrivals have been granted bridging visas to date," he said.

"The number of self-harm incidents has also steadily reduced from August 2011 to February 2012, and we are committed to continual improvements of the mental health services provided to people in immigration detention."